Belong (D.M)

Part thirtyfour

February came to an end, and the snow that coated the school grounds had began melting, leaving the grass to slowly turn green and the bare trees to slowly come out of their winter slumber. Slytherin played against Ravenclaw in the inter-house Quidditch cup, which gathered the school at the Quidditch pitch. The Slytherin seeker however, was far from the arena. He was hurrying down the stone corridor on the seventh floor of the castle.

"Draco?" she asked as she saw him turn a corner.

"Ellie what are you doing here?"

"I'm just coming from my common room" she said, pointing towards the Gryffindor tower "I'm heading to madam Pomfrey's, what about you? Why aren't you at Quidditch?"

"Quidditch" me mumbled, looking away "Harper is covering for me today"

"As he did last time, what's going on with you?" she questioned, walking over to him "you're not injured, why aren't you playing as seeker? I mean you love Quidditch"

"I-I umh I don't feel like it" he said, his voice shaky and his eyes wary.

She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows as she stepped closer to hold his hand.

"Why? You love Quidditch Draco"

"I just haven't found as much joy in it lately, I have other things on my mind" he mumbled.

"But Draco..."

"I'll play the next match Ellie okay?" he interrupted her with his voice irritated and rushed "I have to go"

She watched as he walked off, his steps quick and assertive. He turned a corner and then he was gone. She felt baffled, and she could not help but wonder if he was depressed. His lack of interest in something he had once loved, his sickly paleness, his sleepless nights and him seemingly to be on constant guard, it would make sense.

She shrugged her shoulders before she continued to walk towards the infirmary, hoping he was alright. 

Her afternoon with madam Pomfrey passed very slowly, with the hospital wing being completely empty. She helped madam Pomfrey sort potions by alphabetical order, and after two hours she was told to go back to her dorm, seeing as nobody was coming in to get help. The Quidditch game had ended almost an hour ago, and no one had fallen of their broom during this match.

She made her way back to the Gryffindor common room where she was met with Hermione sitting next to Harry and Ron on the scarlet couch before the fireplace. 

"You're back already?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah" she sighed, sitting down in one of the armchairs next to them "the hospital wing was completely empty so there was nothing for me to do, madam Pomfrey sent me back here"

Hermione nodded her head as she gazed off towards the fire.

"So Malfoy wasn't in the infirmary?" Harry asked.

"No" she answered confused "why'd you ask?"

"Slytherin had their substitute seeker playing once again today, so I thought that he maybe was ill" Hermione said.

"Well now we know that he isn't" Harry quickly said, looking at them "he wasn't playing because he was busy with something else, he's up to something"

"Harry I hardly doubt that" she sighed.

"You were in the school during the match" Ron said "did you seem him anywhere? Malfoy I mean"

"No" she lied, shaking her head "I didn't see anyone"

She did not want to tell them about Draco and his repeated visits to the hallways of the seventh floor. It was none of her business, and frankly none of theirs either. Harry had on multiple occasions accused the blonde boy of being a death eater and being the one who cursed Katie Bell, but she did not believe him, she couldn't possibly believe him.

....

She sat in charms class during a rainy afternoon. Next to her sat Hermione, and behind them sat Ron and Harry. It was Ron's seventeenth birthday, and they had all congratulated him a thousand times already. In the very back sat Draco, next to Blaise.

"Today you will learn the protean charm" professor Flitwick spoke, standing on a stack of dusty books. 

"Protean charm?But that's... that's N.E.W.T standard, that is" the Ravenclaw boy Terry Boot questioned.

"Yes mr Boot, it is a difficulty charm however we will attempt to learn it today" the professor said, instructing the class on the correct wand movement.

"What is this protean charm? What does it do?" she turned and whispered to Hermione who always seemed to have the answer to everything.

"It allows several objects to change simultaneously through a common purpose" Hermione spoke quickly before she looked back at professor Flitwick. Hermione's answer did not provide her with any new knowledge, she was still utterly confused as to what that meant.

"Several objects to change simultaneously through a common purpose?" she mumbled to herself, looking at the short professor.

Professor Flitwick showed the class of sixth years the charm before he jumped down from his stack of books.

"Now you try it" he urged "come on, get started everyone"

She tried and tried but she could just not get it, she barely understood what the charm did. Harry and Ron seemed to struggle even more than her, and so did the rest of the class.

"Look look" professor Flitwick suddenly bursted out "miss Granger and mr Malfoy has done it, well done both of you, ten points to Gryffindor and ten points to Slytherin"

She turned her head to look at the pale boy, who had successfully casted the charm with control and understanding. She couldn't help but feel some type of amazement inside of her, she was impressed by his indisputable competence when it came to charms.

The class ended and the classroom emptied out quickly. She was walking down the third floor corridor next to Hermione, Ron and Harry. Hermione, who has been able to cast the charm since last year, seemed pleased with earning Gryffindor some extra points. Harry and Ron mostly seemed bummed that Slytherin had also gotten points.

"I can't believe Malfoy could cast that spell" Ron muttered "can you believe that out of the only two in the whole class... he's one of them, and I mean with Hermione? Hermione, you're like a genius"

"I'm not that surprised" she said, holding her book bag in a firm grip "Malfoy is actually smart"

"Yes he's right behind me in every class" Hermione said "believe it or not"

"I believe it" Ron muttered "but I don't want to"

She laughed as they turned a corner. Their next class was transfiguration, and it passed quickly. After professor McGonagall's class was done they headed back to their common room, where Ron had received a gift from Fred and George's joke shop. 

She spent her evening doing potions homework with Hermione and the clock was around nine when she gave up for the night and went to bed, curling up underneath her scarlet covers. 

The next morning she awoke to Hermione shaking her vigorously. She opened her eyes only to be met with Hermione's worried ones.

"Wake up Ellie"

"Hermione what's going on?" she asked as she yawned, stretching her arms out "why do you look so worried? Why are you shaking me awake?"

"Ron is in the hospital wing, he's been poisoned"

"What?" she asked shocked, shooting right up from her bed "poisoned? Are you serious?"

Hermione nodded her head, pushing back her tears.

"I just got the word from Harry, I'm going to see him now, do you want to come with me?"

"Of course" she mumbled, hurrying to get dressed "of course I'll come with you Hermione"

Hermione was already dressed in her school uniform, and her hair was pinned back. She got her shoes on as Hermione waited in by the door, and soon the two girls rushed to the first floor. She pushed the tall wooden doors open to reveal Ron laying on a bed, surrounded by Harry and a few professors. 

"Ron" Hermione bursted out, rushing to sit by his bedside. Hermione looked distraught as she sat down, grabbing a hold of Ron's hand. 

Before anyone could speak another word the tall doors opened again, and in came Lavender Brown, quick on her step. The girl with the blonde plaits stopped by Ron's bed.

"What's she doing here?" Lavender asked flustered, looking straight at Hermione.

"I might ask you the same question" Hermione said sternly, looking at the blonde girl.

"I happen to be his girlfriend" Lavender spat out.

"I happen to be his... friend" Hermione said, standing up.

"Don't make me laugh, you haven't spoken in weeks" Lavender said, staring at Hermione "I suppose you want to make up now that he's suddenly all interesting"

"He's been poisoned, you daft dimbo" Hermione called out angrily "and for the record, I've always found him interesting"

Everyone watched as the two girls bitterly brawled, and all the professors looked like they were watching a bad soap opera, their faces frowning and their eyes curious. Suddenly Ron stirred in his bed, mumbling something that no one could hear.

"Ah! See? He senses my presence" Lavender said proudly, pushing past Hermione to lean down by the red haired boy "don't worry, Won-Won! I'm here, I'm here"

"Uh... Hermione... Her... my... nee, Hermione..." Ron croaked, tossing and turning in his bed. Hermione stepped over to him with a small smile on her face, taking his hand gently in hers. Lavender on the contrary did not smile, she instead took a surprised step back before she ran out in tears. A silence filled the infirmary, a slightly awkward silence.

She looked between Ron and Hermione, who were seemingly in their own world, and Harry. The boy with the scar looked immersed in a deep thought, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Oh to be young and to feel love's keen sting" professor Dumbledore hummed with a joyful voice "well come away everyone, mr Weasley is well tended"

All the professors left, leaving her and Harry standing alone by Ron and Hermione.

"About time, too" she leaned over and whispered to Harry "don't you think?"

Harry nodded his head, a smile creeping upon his lips.

"Oh shut up you two" Hermione laughed as she continued to clutch Ron's hand tightly, smiling sweetly at him.

"Come on" Harry whispered to her, nodding his head towards the tall doors.

"Bye you guys, recover fast Ron" she said as she skipped off after Harry.

The two of them walked out into the cold stone corridor of the first floor, and she gazed out of the windows as they walked.

"What happened to him Harry? Will he be alright?"

"He will, thanks to professor Slughorn" Harry sighed "he was poisoned Ellie"

"I know that, but how? Why is there poison inside of Hogwarts? What happened?"

"Hermione told me that she overheard some girls in the bathroom discussing ways to sneak me a love potion, something stupid about me being the chosen one or whatever" Harry said "I  discovered Romilda Vane spiking Gillywater and seeing as I was warned, I of course declined it politely"

"And then?" she asked "are you saying that Romilda Vane poisoned Ron?"

"No not at all" Harry said, shaking his head "I had a box of unopened chocolate cauldrons in my trunk but I must've accidentally chucked them out when I was looking for my map, and Ron found them, thinking it was a birthday gift for him and he ate them"

"And they were spiked with love potion I suppose?"

"Yes, cause Ron suddenly fancied Romilda" Harry said.

"Even though he's with Lavender" she hummed "that's awkward"

"Well I hardly think him and Lavender will be a thing after this morning" Harry laughed.

"Maybe that's for the better" she agreed "but what happened then Harry? How did he get poisoned?"

"I took him to professor Slughorn so he could give him an antidote, which worked, and afterwards professor Slughorn wanted to celebrate so he offered us some mead and Ron was the first to take a sip..."

"And it was poisonous" she breathed.

"Exactly" Harry nodded, stopping in his tracks "professor Slughorn bought that bottle of mead as a present for professor Dumbledore, someone poisoned it"

"You don't think it was professor Slughorn?" she questioned.

"No" the brown haired boy said, shaking his head "no, professor Slughorn seemed way too shocked, he didn't know about it, and besides he rushed to give Ron an antidote, I hardly think Ron would've survived without it"

Her eyes wandered around the empty corridor, and Harry's serious gaze fell upon her.

"Who do you think it was? That poisoned the mead I mean"

"Malfoy"

She drew a deep breath, trying to remain calm. Here he goes again, accusing the boy she secretly loves of committing such evil deeds. Curses and poison, death caused by him? No.

"Harry" she breathed "I hardly think Malfoy could..."

"Save it Ellie" he said, interrupting her "I have the Marauders map you know?"

"Yes?" she questioned.

"I've been keeping an eye on Malfoy, and I've seen you with him on multiple occasions"